View of line of rocket stores from South East

Description View of line of rocket stores from South East

Catalogue Number SC 666292

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 21540 CN

Scope and Content Ammunition shelters, World War II Z battery, Roan Head, Golta, Flotta, Orkney Islands In World War II the famous Scapa anti-aircraft 'box barrage' was made up of 25 Heavy Anti-Aircraft batteries, supported by numerous Light Anti-Aircraft posts and rocket sites, all manned by the Army. The three-inch (80mm) rockets or 'unrotated projectiles' (UPs) as they were known, were fired up to a height of 22,000 feet (6,706m) from single or multiple launcher sites, the latter being known as Z batteries. On the ridge of the northernmost headland on Flotta, forming a final eastern curtain of anti-aircraft fire in the defence of the Lyness naval base, is the most complete surviving Z battery in Britain, comprising a regular grid of 64 rocket launchers and 128 magazines with the outlying remains of four personnel shelters and a command post. This is a group of ammunition shelters in which the interior construction is clear, consisting of an outer concrete skin built over an arched corrugated iron frame flanked and infilled with concrete bags. The entrances could be sealed as required, and wartime pictures show the rockets stored inside on trolleys. At the heart of the Orkney archipelago, Scapa Flow was the main fleet anchorage for the Royal Navy during both World Wars. Its vital importance led to the creation of one of the most concentrated defence networks in Britain. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/666292

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap